New Black Cap plans to attack

By Kris Shannon

New Black Cap Tim Robinson has a simple approach to batting: “I love hitting sixes and trying to entertain people.”

That attitude has been clear throughout a brief Super Smash career and will now be seen at the international level in this month’s five-match T20 tour to Pakistan.

Robinson was included in an understrength squad with an eye to the future — he will celebrate his 22nd birthday on the subcontinent and has played only 20 domestic games in the shortest format.

But his ball-striking ability has caught the selectors’ attention while a strikerate of 146 makes him an ideal top-order option when overs are limited. It’s a burgeoning reputation the big-hitting Wellingtonian is happy to embrace.

“It’s something I dreamed of as a kid — trying to hit sixes in the backyard,” Robinson said. “It’s addicting when you get one right out of the middle and it goes a mile.

“I take a lot of confidence out of that, but at the same time this is an extremely different challenge and I’m excited to get over there and have a real crack.”

Robinson and the 24-year-old Finn Allen could eventually cement themselves as a destructive opening pair for New Zealand, though the T20 World Cup in June might be a tournament too soon.

Merely receiving a call for this trip from selector Sam Wells was momentous enough, with Robinson saying he “absolutely” didn’t anticipate his selection.

“I actually couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I was sitting in the office and I got this call from Wellsy and I was stuttering away, trying to hold a conversation with him but I was struggling a little bit.

“It’s hard to put into words. Everyone talks about it being a childhood dream and things like that, and that never really resonated with me until it happened. But for it all to come to fruition is pretty amazing and I’m just really excited.”

Robinson should perhaps have allowed himself the possibility of donning a black cap after his season-opening performance before Christmas. Beginning the day with a T20 career tally of 181 runs from 14 games, he dispatched the Otago attack all over the Basin Reserve while plundering 139 off 64 balls.

“I had a big winter, working on a few technical things, and for it all to work out in that first game, I was really happy with,” Robinson said. “That really kickstarted things. I got a lot of confidence from that and tried to ride it all through the campaign.”

That innings — which included four straight sixes in the final over before his last-ball dismissal while looking for another boundary — left Robinson two runs shy of the New Zealand record held by teammate and new Black Caps captain Michael Bracewell.

Robinson was thrilled for his first international experience to now come under Bracewell, long regarded as the biggest hitter on the New Zealand scene.

“He’s been a fantastic role model for me,” he said. “We have each other on and see who can try and hit the ball furthest. He’s a fantastic guy and it fills me with comfort knowing I’m going over with him. I’m sure I’ll be annoying him on the plane.

“I’m just trying to pick the guys’ brains who are a little bit more experienced and seeing if I can learn from them and trying to implement that into my training before I go.

“We’ve got some experienced guys and learning off them is fantastic. So I’m trying to soak up as much as I can from them while trying to make my own way as well.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission